London, Dec. 17: The Queen will this week pass another milestone in her reign when she becomes the oldest monarch in the history of the nation.

On Saturday, she will overtake Victoria, one of her most illustrious predecessors, but the event will pass without any fanfare at Buckingham Palace. The Queen will spend the day at Windsor Castle with the Duke of Edinburgh. There will be no public pronouncements.

Victoria died on January 22, 1901, aged 81 years, seven months, four weeks and one day. The longest serving King was George III, who was 81 years and 239 days when he died in 1820.

Peter Hennessy, the Attlee professor of contemporary British History at Queen Mary, University of London, said: Even allowing for the improvement in medicine since Victoria it is remarkable. I cannot think of any other head of an institution who has not put a foot wrong over such a long period of time.

In those years she has presided over the most dignified withdrawal from the superpower status, which is no bad legacy